SmilControl provides your Digital Signage Software
What is Digital Signage?
Digital signage describes the digitization of the billboard and sign industry. Digital advertising media, such as screens or projectors, take the place of printed materials. The purposes of digital signage are mainly in the field of advertising, information, sales and entertainment.
Although some claim to have invented the term digital signage as early as the 1970s, the term did not become widespread until the early 1990s. The analog CRT screens of the time became less expensive due to the PC revolution.
It therefore began to be financially worthwhile to use them in more and more fields of application outside of classic television or as computer monitors. This trend continued with the triumph of digital screens in the mid-2000s.
As usual with young technologies, there were and are a number of synonyms such as: electronic signage, digital out of home (Dooh), digital advertising network (D.A.N.) Point of Sale (PoS) systems and others. Interactive kiosk systems information and self-service terminals now also count as digital signage.
Meanwhile, not only the term digital signage has consolidated; nowadays thousands of devices are efficiently managed centrally in huge networks.
Why Digital Signage?
The four most obvious reasons are:- You change content on a monitor in real time at the touch of a button. Logistics for printing or posting are eliminated.
- Your advertising space is better utilized because one monitor displays several "posters" in a row.
- Different media formats such as animations and movies can be displayed.
- Touch displays enable interactions, feedback and self-service.
But that's just the Tip of the Iceberg
Digital signage offers two other, in our view, much more significant added values. Namely, networking and automation.
We are in the age of digital transformation.
Networked digital signage solutions can be excellently integrated into almost any digitization concept. Assuming they offer well-thought-out interfaces. The end result is your holistic individual solution for advertising, control, communication and evaluation.
For this to work reasonably, various components and interfaces must work together. This in turn requires standards and a high degree of openness.
At SmilControl, we are committed to doing just that. We rely on openly documented patent-free industry standards. You don't need vows of silence for our software and interfaces.
Scalable digital signage with SmilControl: How does it work?
If you want to offer your own digital signage products or services, you are usually faced with the following choice:
Alternative 1: You Develop Everything from Scratch by Yourself
You conceptualize and program or commission your software such as CMS, players, and authoring tools.
Meanwhile, you test different devices, smart TVs, and monitors for your digital signage players. In addition, you will build your server structures and develop content and content strategies for your customers.
Furthermore, you will take care of sales, marketing, staff, training, support and much more.
In short: You're reinventing the wheel!
Disadvantages:- Until your system and your digital signage solution is ready, it takes a lot of time
- High investment to create your own technologies and generate domain-specific experience
- Developing, teaching and maintaining high-maintenance software involves unpredictable risks, responsibilities, and costs
Alternative 2: You Hire a Digital Signage Full-Service Provider
. While you save on development effort, choosing this solution has some concrete disadvantages:- You have to take what you're offered.
- Implementing your specific features will be costly, if at all possible.
- Combine products from different vendors (content management system, authoring tools, players, etc.), fails lacking compatibility.
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Own technologies such as a customer call or customer stopper systems to use, depends on the flexibility of the provider.
As a rule, it will be difficult.
In short again: You get into a vendor lock-in!
This means your digital signage business model becomes dependent on one vendor!
The Silver Bullet ⇾ SmilControl
We show you the best of both worlds!
Use our standardized signage components and get started right away. Because our software is designed for cooperation! Solutions are possible that no other digital signage provider on the market offers.
So, you focus on your core competencies, and we flexibly deliver the particular software technology, that at the moment you need: As long as you need it!
You operate your own digital signage products with our software with the highest flexibility with the desired components.